


Better the Lie

by ParadifeLoft



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Double Drabble, Gen, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 22:51:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16842034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParadifeLoft/pseuds/ParadifeLoft
Summary: A child in Nargothrond, innocently ignorant, asks Curufin about the burn scars on his hands.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on [my headcanon](http://paradife-loft.tumblr.com/post/105233911584/so-apropos-of-pretty-much-nothing-i-have-this) about Curufin being burned from holding Feanor's body as he died.

“By Elbereth!”

A child’s voice, from somewhere around Curufin’s hip, attempting a hushed whisper. It held too much awe to succeed.

“Is that from the battle of flames?”

Muscles in Celegorm’s back tensed together, before the inevitable steel-cold light in his brother’s eyes even flashed to life. But then it did, and the child took a step back from the pair of them.

 _Should have shut your mouth while you were still ahead_ , Celegorm thought, and, _So naïve to war you can’t even recognise that scar is older than yourself?_ Unkind, yes, but he wasn’t interested in getting between his brother and a stranger too free with his words. Child or no.

But the ire that had rose in Curufin’s expression stilled under his twin onlookers, not yet reached his scathing tongue. Faded, behind a chilled mask that one who knew him less well might take for calm.

“From a careless mistake in the forge, actually,” he replied. His voice was smooth; his eyes didn’t blink from the child’s face. He picked his hand up, drew his sleeve back over the exposed wrist and palm; a moment later, turned away.

Celegorm eyed the child. _Better the lie_ , he didn’t say.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus crosspost of the text of the original headcanon/meta post I made on the topic, for more context!

so apropos of pretty much nothing,

I have this headcanon that for most of his life in Beleriand, Curufin has burn scars on his hands. I’m a bit self-conscious of it, because there’s a part of my brain that still likes to be all, “oh you’re just doing this because Curufin is your special snowflake babby and any suffering for the sake of the Silmarils that his brothers do, he needs to match or exceed”. …this may be the part of my brain that actually _is_ Curufin, but I digress. the reason I have it is because I’ve headcanoned for much longer that Curufin would have been holding or touching Feanor as he died (refusing to let go of him, pleading in grief and despair…), and then one day I thought about the implications of that, and… yeah.

but I do actually like what it does, in the _context_ of Maedhros and Maglor later being burned by the Silmarils, when I think about it. it adds (more!) narrative parallels, like the Feanorians beginning their time in Beleriand with fire and maiming, and end it that way too. like Maedhros and Maglor, their deeds are ultimately what destroys them (through the literal physical vector of the Varda’s hallowing of the Silmarils); but in a way foreshadowed by how Curufin is marked _initially_ , by this physical symbol of his unwillingness to let go of Feanor’s legacy even when it will destroy him as well.

it also ties them together in an externalised way, imo, that reflects how I see them as all sharing certain key similarities that their aren’t quite as prominent in the other Feanorians (though there are lots of points of similarity and parallel for really any pair or grouping you come up with). they are the three most abstract, of the brothers, I think, in how they approach the purpose of the war with Morgoth, their Oath, their entire project in Beleriand. they have Ideas, and these Ideas are what drive them.

also interesting to me, as sort of an off-the-cuff musing: they are, this way, three different studies in what a person might do, reaching this point in their life where they are clearly marked by a striking moment of despair. Maedhros, at this moment, takes that final despair and basically says yes, this is it, this is over, I can’t go on, my efforts have been for evil and gained me nothing. Maglor, I think, has _been_ despairing for a while, an indefinite amount of time already; the way it’s externalised forces him to confront this, imo, and faced with that knowledge now, he says yes, this tale is concluded, the story is over - “he” fades away to an extent, and all that’s really left is his song, his story. and meanwhile Curufin… Curufin hits that point early. he’s smacked in the face with it; for a time, he gives up. and then he picks himself up, dusts himself off, and _keeps going_ , beyond the point where he was “broken”, by denying all of it. until finally, external conditions become such that he simply can’t deny it any longer… and that’s when it catches up with him, and the time he borrowed gets pulled right out from under him.


End file.
